Elon Musk halts deal between US Air Force and Russian rocket-makers

​A decision handed out late Wednesday by a United States Court of Federal Claims judge will for now keep the American aerospace industry from buying Russian-made rockets.

Judge Susan G. Branden issued an injunction this week just days
after California’s SpaceX company asked the US government to
reconsider a deal between the Air Force and United Launch
Services — a joint-venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing —
that’s expected to involve space-related contracts with Russian
rocket maker NPO Energomash.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk asked the feds to intervene because not
only was he opposed to the Air Force awarding a non-competitive
contract to the ULA without seeking other bids, but also because
he thought other American companies should be considered in the
midst of an international crisis that has caused tensions between
Washington and Moscow to worsen in recent weeks due to the
ongoing unrest in Ukraine.

"The long-term contract, which guarantees the purchase of 36
rocket cores from ULA to be used in national security launches,
was granted to ULA on a sole-source basis without any competition
from other launch providers," SpaceX said in a statement
last week.

“This is not SpaceX protesting and saying these launches
should be awarded to us,” Musk added. “We’re just saying
these launches should be competed. If we compete and lose, that’s
fine. But why would they not even compete it? That doesn’t make
sense.”

On Wednesday evening, Judge Branden agreed, ruling that, "in
the court’s judgment,the public interest and national defense and
security concerns that underlie Executive Order 13,661 warrant
issuance of a preliminary injunction in this case,” thus
prohibiting both the US Air Force and ULA “from making any
purchase from or payment of money to NPO Energomash.”

Judge Branden’s decision also prohibits the Air Force and ULA
from doing business with any entity, whether governmental,
corporate or individuals, that is controlled by Russia’s deputy
prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin — just one of the latest foreign
officials sanctioned by Washington as a result of Moscow’s
perceived role in the unrest that continues to plague eastern
Ukraine.

After being hit with sanctions, Rogozin announced over Twitter on
Thursday that he had a new plan that could help get the US into
space without relying on Russian companies any longer.

"After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I
suggest the US delivers its astronauts to the ISS [international
space station] with a trampoline.” Rogozin wrote.

NBC News reported this week that Judge Branden’s Wednesday night
decision will keep the Air Force and ULA from purchasing any
Russian-made engines unless and until either the Department of
Treasury or Commerce say such contractors wouldn’t go against US
sanctions.